There are some things that everybody seems to think are so that just bother me, such as:
Myths:
a) inflation is inevitable. False. Weimar and the 1970s were a vast exception. You only go off the gold standard once. The British consol hovered around 2-4% from the death of Napoleon to WWI. Low interest rates and inflation are the norm. Would not be a surprise if inflation did not return during our lifetimes.
http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2011/041711_files/consols.jpg
b) gold goes up with inflation. Again, there is no evidence for this. Gold has been up for 11 straight years, not a trace of inflation. That's data. Myth, busted.
c) inflation is caused by the printing of money aka inflation is everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon. Hmmm, Japanese have been printing money forever. True it's mostly sterilized, but they've still spent a ton of money and lowered rates to virtually zero. Lot of good it's done them. If inflation were a monetary phenomenon, Japan and the Bernank would have solved the deflation a long time ago. They haven't, needless to say. Look at what's right in front of your own face. Don't listen to the old myths.
Truth:
Deflation/inflation is a demographic and real phenomenon, not a monetary phenomenon. Inflation is caused by too many young people forming households, not saving, and chasing too few goods. That was the 1970s in the US and the 1960s in Japan. Old people don't cause inflation because the aged and infirm never spend money. Again, see Japan. See the US. See the global deflation all around us as the world greys.
This paper shows that in Japan and the US, "inflation is firstly a demographic phenomneon." p 13 has the goods.
http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/research/doc.cfm?did=47411
Remember that ontology always precedes logic, no matter what the idealists would have you believe.
Myths:
a) inflation is inevitable. False. Weimar and the 1970s were a vast exception. You only go off the gold standard once. The British consol hovered around 2-4% from the death of Napoleon to WWI. Low interest rates and inflation are the norm. Would not be a surprise if inflation did not return during our lifetimes.
http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2011/041711_files/consols.jpg
b) gold goes up with inflation. Again, there is no evidence for this. Gold has been up for 11 straight years, not a trace of inflation. That's data. Myth, busted.
c) inflation is caused by the printing of money aka inflation is everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon. Hmmm, Japanese have been printing money forever. True it's mostly sterilized, but they've still spent a ton of money and lowered rates to virtually zero. Lot of good it's done them. If inflation were a monetary phenomenon, Japan and the Bernank would have solved the deflation a long time ago. They haven't, needless to say. Look at what's right in front of your own face. Don't listen to the old myths.
Truth:
Deflation/inflation is a demographic and real phenomenon, not a monetary phenomenon. Inflation is caused by too many young people forming households, not saving, and chasing too few goods. That was the 1970s in the US and the 1960s in Japan. Old people don't cause inflation because the aged and infirm never spend money. Again, see Japan. See the US. See the global deflation all around us as the world greys.
This paper shows that in Japan and the US, "inflation is firstly a demographic phenomneon." p 13 has the goods.
http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/research/doc.cfm?did=47411
Remember that ontology always precedes logic, no matter what the idealists would have you believe.